NOE 461-540 in a trapdoor?

[1Hawkeye]

Has anyone tried a NOE 461-540 .461" 540 gr in a trapdoor with smokless powder? I'm tring to find a trapdoor friendly diameter bullet without have to pay the custom mold price. This is as close as Iv'e been able to get to the original government style projectile. The lyman 457125 is way too small a diameter for a proper fit and will not engauge enough rifling to stabilize.
Thanks

[Jeff Michel]

I'd suggest start by slugging your bore, will save you buying molds that are not the correct size. NOE are excellent molds but generally a stock item and not very flexible as to diameter. Tom at Accurate can make you any diameter bullet in his catalog or design one from scratch. His prices are in line with NOE.

[Kraschenbirn]

FWIW: The "Original" 1873 bullet for both the Trapdoor rifle and carbine was a 405 gr. very similar to the Lyman 457124. The 505-grain for the rifle wasn't adopted until 1882 while the carbine load continued to use the 405 grainer. The Accurate 46-500D is a good equivalent to the 1882 boolit and drops a consistent .4615-.4620 at 515 gr. from the 50/50 PB/range scrap mix I use with smokeless. Same mix drops 404 gr. and just an RCH smaller from the old Lyman 'Ideal' 457124 I load for my Trapdoor Carbine.

Bill

[Kraschenbirn]

Duplicate of previous reply.

[1Hawkeye]

I have slugged the bore and it's .461+ . The largest diameter mold I have is a Hoch 500 gr that mikes at .459-.4595 but they are not large enough to grip the rifling to stabilize properly in flight and sometimes are off by a couple of feet at 200 yards. I know that won't happen with a properly sized bullet but I expect the zero will be effected by the weight change. The other reason I was thinking about this mold is because I can use it with my Shiloh's when it's sized for them.

[redneck1]

I dunno if many will agree with me but I think a 540 grain bullet is a little to long for a trapdoor and it's 1-22 inch twist rate .
It might shoot " ok " at 100-200 yards before it looses stability , or it might just send a bunch of tumblers down range .

I don't think you can achieve a high enough velocity safely with smokeless to say with 100% certainty it'll work .

[varsity07840]

My '88 bore slugs at almost .463. Accurate made me a 500 gr. Government @ .464. I needed a M type case expander to fit it in a case but fortunately it will chamber.

[Jeff Michel]

If I may...... You probably won't be able to cross-utilize with a ton of success. You have a generous bore in your trapdoor whereas the Shiloh will have a .450 bore/458 groove diameter (At least mine does) Excessive sizing is no good for accuracy .001-.002 is about it in my experience and "as cast" is idea. I think redneck is on target with respect to bullet weight, but it depends on what your planning to do with your trapdoor. You might consider a lighter weight bullet or switch to black powder. Trapdoors are tough but increasing charges of smokeless powder isn't probably the best route, if you have to increase your speed to stabilize your projectile. If your interested before your select your mold, I have many, many .45 caliber molds, ranging from .461 to .457 in diameter and grain weight of 300 to 545, grease groove and paper patched. Tell me what you would like to try and I'll get a selection out to you. Just my thoughts......

[varsity07840]

If I may...... You probably won't be able to cross-utilize with a ton of success. You have a generous bore in your trapdoor whereas the Shiloh will have a .450 bore/458 groove diameter (At least mine does) Excessive sizing is no good for accuracy .001-.002 is about it in my experience and "as cast" is idea. I think redneck is on target with respect to bullet weight, but it depends on what your planning to do with your trapdoor. You might consider a lighter weight bullet or switch to black powder. Trapdoors are tough but increasing charges of smokeless powder isn't probably the best route, if you have to increase your speed to stabilize your projectile. If your interested before your select your mold, I have many, many .45 caliber molds, ranging from .461 to .457 in diameter and grain weight of 300 to 545, grease groove and paper patched. Tell me what you would like to try and I'll get a selection out to you. Just my thoughts......

Our sport needs more people like you. Well done.

[1Hawkeye]

I think I'm going to go with the accurate 500gr that was recommended. Thanks for the information folks.